Most kitchens are crowded places where countertop space is scarce. Toasters, coffee makers, microwave ovens, knife blocks, jars, bottles, cans, etc., are usually strewn all over the countertops in all but the most tidy kitchens. This not only reduces working space, but also reduces efficiency by making things difficult to locate among the mess. Multiple small jars of spice can be especially difficult to find and sort out because of their small sizes and relatively great numbers.
The well known Lazy Susan was invented to alleviate the countertop mess. By having small items such as spice bottles placed on a rotatable round board, the items can be organized and packed tightly together. The Lazy Susan, which can be placed on a countertop or in a cabinet, can be rotated so that each item is successively presented at the front of the unit, until the desired item can be found and retrieved. Although convenient, this invention still occupies precious counter or cabinet space.
Some drawer type devices have been designed to occupy no counter space by being mounted under existing cabinets. U.S. Pat. No. 2,839,349 to Culver (1958) shows a knife drawer with a pair of side rails which dip downwardly at the front ends, and a drawer with two pairs of rollers which ride within the rails. A third pair of rollers are mounted near the front of the rails to support the drawer, which tilts downward slightly when opened. However, the drawer is locked inside the side rails and cannot be removed for cleaning. In addition, it is quite complicated in construction, and therefore relatively expensive to manufacture.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,184,725 to Spangler (1980) shows a book drawer with a central book-holding bar. Two side rails guide the drawer, which may be pulled open and tilted downwardly until a forwardly positioned rod under the book-holding bar stops the drawer. This drawer is also locked inside the side rails and cannot be removed for cleaning. Moreover, it has no provision for holding spice jars, and cannot be easily adapted to do so.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,441,771 to Roesler (1984) shows a drawer with two side rails and a pair of studs near the back. The drawer slides on two side supports with front recesses which receive the studs to allow the drawer to tilt downwardly. The drawer is divided by flat partitions into multiple compartments. Although easy to open and tilt downwardly, this drawer cannot be conveniently closed: The entire drawer must be evenly lifted to disengage the studs from the front recesses before the drawer can be slid closed.
In conclusion, existing trays and drawers either occupy valuable contertop space, cannot be removed from the mounting rails for cleaning, provide no provision for holding spice jars and cannot be adapted to do so, or cannot be operated easily and conveniently.